So Long Status Quo...

As most of you now know, Justin and I are about to shake things up a bit...and MOVE! Although we realize this may seems a bit crazy considering the current housing market (and we'd have to put his up for sale), however we do have good reasons...

We both need jobs.

Justin has a job with Barlett Tree Experts in Augusta, GA and I... haven't made my final decision yet. I have a job offer, however there is one problem...it is two hours from Justin's job. If we live in the middle, the outskirts of Columbia would be our only option and we would both be commuting an hour to work each day.  (Yuck, I know)

Before we move (in 6 weeks) we need to:

• replace the rotten fascia boards on the outside of the house.
• tile the bathroom.
• make new columns for the front porch.
• close in the carport.
• put down hardwood floors in the kitchen.
• paint the cabinets and redo the cabinet doors.
• build an island for the kitchen.
• put the house up for sale,
• OH, and find a place to live....

WOW! Ok, I can't breathe anymore!
So, the next few weekends will, needless to say, be spent working on the house and getting it ready to sell. The weekend of my birthday, May 1st, several people are coming up to help make the process go a little faster!

Although this move was not in our plans and not what we were prepared for at all, we are trying to be optimistic about our new adventure....

I'll keep you updated on the quick transformation of Justin's old ranch-style house! Pictures and videos will be posted as soon as anything is accomplished!

Now to lighten the mood a little! This one's for the Tysons...

While chaperoning the 4-Hers at G-day last Saturday, I refused to take a picture with the cheerleaders...so, this is what Justin got! (For the record, "Go Gamecocks!") :)

I feel like doing the happy dance...

The stress is beginning to decrease little by little as the countdown continues!

Today brought the beginning of the end of Student Teaching! I had my last formal observation today!!! (Which was terrifying because it was at 8:15 am on the first day back from Spring Break! Intense!)

I am:
- 2 weeks and 4 days away from completing Student Teaching!
- 4 weeks and 1 day away from Graduation!
- 6 weeks and 5 days until I am Mrs. Tyson!

Woooooohoooooo!

Busy, Busy!

So, I've been warned not to let all of this attention go to my head because in a a little less than 2 months it will all be over! ...But until then... I'm enjoying all of these fancy-pants parties that revolve around me! :) heehee.

This past weekend was very busy with lots of wedding fun!

Saturday, March 27th my best friends from Georgetown, Whitney, Elizabeth, and Hillary (and their wonderful mommies) threw me a Bridal Shower!

Everything was so special. One of the most thoughtful gifts was the Sand Dollar Corsage with mine and Justin's initials and wedding date on it! Mrs. Debbie, Whitney's Mom, suggested the girls make a corsage that would double as a Christmas ornament so Justin and I will have something for our Christmas tree every year to remind us of this special time.

Whitney, my Maid-of-Honor pinning on the corsage.

My mom was all grins on Saturday, too! I think she is as happy as Justin and I am about the wedding! :)

*If you notice the cup in my mom's hand in the picture below, it is coffee punch. Elizabeth's mom made it for the shower and it was absolutely delicious, however Mrs. Lisa would not give us the recipe (I guess it is a family secret?). Well, that did not stop Mrs. Cheryl (to my mom's left)! After the shower, Mrs. Cheryl let my mom know that she had the recipe for that wonderful coffee punch! (I've included the recipe at the end!)

Who says friendships have to end with High School? By this time my face was hurting from smiling so much, but I was so happy some of my really good friends in high school could make it to help me celebrate! We get together as often as we can, or when we are all in town, but we are spread out across the state, so it is not very often that we can do this. It was so good to see some of them on Saturday!

Coffee Punch

Ingredients:

•1 gallon strong coffee

•1 3/4 cup sugar

•1 pint heavy cream

•1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

•1/2 gallon chocolate ice cream

Directions:

1.Dissolve sugar in hot coffee and chill (for at least 45 minutes)

2.Add heavy cream. Stir well. Return to refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

3.At serving time, pour coffee mixture into punch bowl. Stir in ice cream by the scoop until blended together.

Sunday, March 28th my Aunt Kathy threw a lingerie shower at Redbone Alley in Florence. It was a very mild lingerie shower, considering my Mom, Aunts and both Grandmothers were there. ;) (However it was still a bit awkward!)

Just a thought: How do you write thank you notes to your family for lingerie? "Thank you for the (insert naught apparel here), I am sure we will enjoy it."?? ;)

Anyway, it was a wonderful time to gather and laugh with family!


Monday, March 30th was Bridal Portraits. Oh boy! Being all dressed up in my wedding dress and having my hair and make-up done made it all become real! In less than 2 months, I will be a Mrs.! :)

Mom, Whitney, and I went to Spartanburg to meet the photographer and have Bridal Portraits made at Milliken Park and on USC Upstate. The weather channel said it wasn't supposed to rain until 9pm Monday night, but I guess I should not have really been surprised when it started sprinkling on our photoshoot!

It all worked out well, though. Clouds make for great pictures and we had a lot of fun!! :)

Mom's amateur photography while driving! :)

Great Cake, Bad Frosting!

The roommates are away for the weekend. Justin is at Rock Eagle. What am I going to do?

  Today started off at Spartanburg High School at 7:30am to take two out of five parts of the Praxis II that is required to gain certification. Two dull pencils, an aching wrist, and six hours later I was finally getting in my car to leave!

 

  After spending a good portion of my day answering questions like 'what you would do if...' I was ready to do something I enjoy! Something that my stomach enjoys...too! :)

 I decided I wanted to bake something!

After much deliberation, I decided to make a three layer cake with fruit filling in between the layers! YUM! The top and bottom layer was made from the vanilla recipe below, and the middle layer is lemon! I was in a fruity mood! :)

It turned out GREAT (after a minor setback) and I thought I would share the recipe!

But before I do, I want you to help me solve a problem! Can anyone help me figure out what went wrong with my buttercream frosting? After I decorated the cake (and I even watched a youtube video for help) I decided to taste the icing...big mistake (of not tasting the icing before decorating the cake!) It tasted HORRIBLE! 

Ingredients:

 2T of Milk

2t of Vanilla

2 sticks of (unsalted) butter

4 cups of confectioners sugar.

The milk was not bad (it expires 3/16) and the butter was fresh... any guesses?

After scraping all of the disgusting buttercream frosting off of my once gorgeous cake, I decided to stick with my never-fail-me icing recipe (which I give Lindsey credit for). Thankfully the cake was not ruined because of my "you have to fit into your wedding dress, don't eat the frosting" mindset and it the recipe is worth a try!

Vanilla Layers:

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Cooking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Grease two 9-inch (23-cm) round cake pans.

In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs together until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Add flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and vanilla and beat for another minute, just until the batter is smooth and creamy. Don't overbeat. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan(s).

Bake in preheated at oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick poked into the center of the layer comes out clean. (A single rectangular pan will take longer to bake than two round ones.) Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a thin knife, then turn out onto a rack and peel off the paper. Let cool completely before covering with frosting, if desired.

Lemon Layers:

1-3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift prior to measuring)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole milk

juice from one lemon (about 3-4 tablespoons)

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

Prepare the cake pan(s). Spray the pans with a little bit of butter flavored cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the sifted flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

   In a bowl, combine the milk and lemon. Set aside.

   Combine the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. With the mixer set to low, alternate adding between dry and wet ingredients starting and ending with the dry.

  Divide the mixture into the prepared pan(s) and bake until a knife inserted comes out clean. For me, using my 6 inch pan filled 3/4 the way full, it was about 35 minutes.

For the filling:

1 cup frozen mixed berries

1 1/2 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Puree the berries in a bender until smooth.

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and let bubble for about 2 minutes.

Set aside to cool.

For the icing:

(the good icing!)

1 cup vegetable shortening

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon clear imitation vanilla extract

3 ounces heavy cream

  With an electric mixer, beat shortening until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and continue beating until well blended.

  Add salt, vanilla, cream of tartar and the heavy cream beating on low speed until moistened, adding a small amount of heavy cream if necessary. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

    Although the weather is beginning to be sunny with temperatures reaching the upper 60's, it feels like Christmas all over again! A pile of gifts in the living room, a table full of food, flower arrangements, and family...this sounds very similar to holidays at the Parrott's! What is the special occasion? I guess it could only be the beginning of wedding celebrations! :) For the record, I have a WONDERFUL family! On Sunday, my Grandma, along with several Aunts hosted my first Bridal Shower!

   To give credit where credit is due, my Great Aunt Jo (grandma's sister) made all of the flower arrangements! They were all so beautiful and very impressive! It really does not surprise me, however. All of the Mahoney ladies know all of the rules of etiquette...and gardening.

   My Aunt Jean (Mom's sister) also helped out with much of the planning! (See where I get my red hair??) She, Kathy, and Aunt Angie made the invitations, the punch, and brought the fruits and vegetables! Oh, what a party!

 

Oh and the little cake squares.... It's not a bridal shower without them! Man, I do not think I have ever realized how addicting they are until Sunday! (This is not a good thing, though...considering there is a fluffy white dress hanging in my closet that I need to fit into in a couple weeks for Bridal Portraits!)

 I was so overwhelmed (in a good way) with gifts! I wish we had taken a picture of all of them together! I told Justin that he would have to wait to find out what we got until he came home to see all of the pretty presents in person...but my excitement won out and I ended up bombarding him with all of the details of the party! Nothing about the detail-by-detail record of the day got his excitment up until he we started talking about the presents! (of course...)

I believe his excitement peeked when he heard we got the cast iron Dutch oven!!

   Thanks to these lovely ladies the shower went beautifully! Grandma Parrott, Aunt Jo Gamble, Aunt Angie, and Aunt Jean all deserve a very big hug and a million thank you's! Justin and I really appreciate all of the love and support! We love each and every one of you!!! Thanks so much, again!

New Look....New Philosophy

 "A young couple's journey through love, faith, marriage, and remodeling..."

 As we begin a new chapter in our lives, we understand that LOVE and FAITH brought us to this point, MARRIAGE! Our love for each other and our faith in the Lord has kept our relationship growing and makes it irreplacable. As we remodel the house, there will be many a blog posts about our accomplishments, but REMODELING can also be taken metaphorically. Justin and I see marriage as a major improvement in both of our lives and realize necessary changes will occur.

Through love, faith, marriage, and remodeling, we are off on a journey! A journey to honor Christ, reflect his holiness, and create a beautifully happy home together!

Way to go Cheerios!

As I was strolling down the cereal aisle the other day had to come to a sudden stop. Standing in front of the Cheerios selection, I noticed something new, something I had never realized before....

There are 10 different kinds of Cheerios. 10!

• Honey Nut
• MultiGrain
• Banana Nut
• Chocolate Cheerios
• Cheerios Crunch
• Berry Burst
• Frosted
• Apple Cinnomon
• Yogurt Burst
• Fruity

As I look through all of the choices, I can't help but think if all of these are really necessary. To me, the Fruity flavor and the Berry Burst seem like they could possibly be combined into one. And what the heck, why not make all of the cereals MultiGrain? Anyway, I move on.

 Although I may find the variety a little ridiculous and some of the flavors redundant, I do applaud them for sticking with the original flavor.

After spending a Saturday playing board games, Justin and I decided we wanted to add classic board games to our wedding registry. We went online in search of the classics, Monopoly and Scrabble. Well, like with the cheerios, there is now a huge selection of both of these games. Special editions, Movie Editions, Anniversary Editions, and the new Electronic Banking Edition Monopoly (which I still am not so sure about...).

Scrabble, even, is trying to get creative. Upwords Scrabble, Scrabble SLAM, Electronic Scrabble, Scrabble PLUS....I could continue but you get my point.

I am sure some game collectors appriciate their creativity and their ability to constantly update these already perfect games, but I just want the original, plain and simple, Park Place and Boardwalk Monopoly and Classic Scrabble, no need for fancy boards or glow in the dark pieces.

After searching online for quite some time, Justin and I were unable to find the original versions of either of these games. Apparently Wal-Mart, Target, and even the Hansbro site itself  no longer feel the need to carry the originals. It was a sad day for us!

In case you were wondering, this is why I at least applaud Cheerios for sticking with their original flavor! Way to go, Cheerios!

How many times do I have to teach hyperbole before one student gets it?

To preface this post: I love my students, I love my classroom, and I love my school.

However-I just do not understand how my little angels' brains work.

How many times do I have to teach the different types of figurative language before one, JUST ONE, student understands what the heck I am talking about?

Since January, the students in my 5th grade reading resource classroom have been reviewing the South Carolina Standard 5.1.2 and 5.1.3. These standards review point of view and figurative language. Since January the students have been given charts to fill out, booklets to make, quick writes on the board, draw a question out of the basket....anything I can think of to get their minds working and able to apply what I am teaching to the passages we are reading.

Thankfully we have just recently passed the poetry section of our curriculum. Let me tell you, it is hard stuff teaching poetry when students do not know the difference between alliteration and personification. Boy!

We have now moved on to the folklore unit. We are studying Tall Tales, Legends, Fables, and Myths. As we review point of view, I figured it would be a simple task for them to apply to Tall Tales.

After reading John Henry, I asked my students what point of view the Tall Tale was written in. (I figured it really only gave them two options, since a Tall Tale is obviously not 1st person, and we only talk about 1st, 3rd Omnicient, and 3rd Limited.)  Hands went up! "OOOh OOh Miss Parrott, I know, pick me, I know!" So I said, "Ok student #1, what is the point of view?" "Miss Parrott, John Henry is written in 1st person."

"So, Student #1, what is first person, what do we look for when we think a story is written in 1st person?"  "OH, OH, OH, Miss Parrott, I got it this time. I know. I'm right now. Please let me answer!!!" ...I had faith, maybe I haven't been teaching all this time in vain... "So, Student #1, try again, I'm sure you have it now!"

"Miss Parrott, it is written in 2nd person, right? There are two main characters in this story, so it is 2nd person right?!"

Okay, so this really did surprise me! We have never even mentioned 2nd person!!!!

At the end of the day my cooperating teacher and I were talking. I mentioned to her how discouraged I was that the students seemed to not be really understanding or getting any of the information I am teaching.

So, can you guess what next week's lessons are going to focus on? Point of View!

Monday: 1st person! I am going to dress up like a movie star and proclaim, "It's all about ME!" (Hopefully I will be cuter than the picture below!)

Tuesday: 3rd person limited! I am going to make blinders for all of my students! They are all going to wear them, and maybe then they will understand what it means to have a limited perspective.

Wednesday: 3rd person omnicient! Here comes Santa! :) I can't wait to bust out my Santa Clause hat in March! I will use Santa as an example because he "sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake..." He's all-knowing!

Thursday and Friday will focus on other things...because I actually have to teach other things besides Point of View. :-(

My students will probably make fun of me for dressing up (they are at that stage that EVERYTHING embarrasses them! Oh, 5th grade!) I will sacrifice my pride and humble myself for the sake of their learning.....

(Student names were withheld, in fear of one day a student's parents stumble across this post...)

Sorry in advance!

So, in my classroom we just finished up our unit on poetry!  I was feeling pretty creativity, so while all of my students were writing their poems as their end of unit project, I decided to write one of my own!! :)

Thought I'd share! (Sorry for the cheesiness!)

Niagara

Touristy place,

Beautiful space,

Waterfalls!

Romantic evening,

Tomorrow we're leaving,

Bittersweet!

Out to eat,

We take our seats,

Hungry!

Heart beating fast,

I begin to laugh,

Surprised!

A sight to see,

You down on one knee,

Love!

Left hand bling,

Like a queen,

Happy!

A gleeful stroll,

Pause beneath a light pole,

Kiss!

Excited calls,

Lighted waterfalls,

ENGAGED!

With the splashing sound,

It's clear I've found,

The One!

(I know, it's pretty bad...) :)

Sequoias and Waterfalls!

 It's official! Flights have been booked. A cabin has been reserved. We have a honeymoon destination! Where are we going? Let's see if you can figure it out...

• To begin with, cell phone reception may be spotty because of the mountain terrain, and may not be available at all in some locations.

Currently, Justin calls me around 9pm for our nightly conversations. I guess when we are at this location we won't need any cellphone service, since we do not have a 9 o'clock phone call to catch anymore!! (Oh, the little things make me excited!!)

Okay, was that not a good clue? I'll try again...

• Remember Justin is a major part of the planning of our honeymoon, so of course there will be big trees in the vicinity!

Sequoias and Ponderosa Pines are just two of the trees we are anxious to see! (Since most of you know where Sequoias are found, this is a very good hint!)

Some intersting facts about our destination:

• In 2007, 12 bears were hit by cars here! I guess the bears haven't learned to use the cross-walks yet! :)
• The waterfalls are at their best in late May! Woo-hoo! Lucky us!
• We expect to encounter relatively warm days, since the average high is 73 degrees and the low is 42 degrees. There is still a chance for an occasional winter storm, though. (The website says relatively warm days, but I am assuming, since we are both from the Southeast, that we may get a little chilly!)

So, have you figured it out? I'll give you a couple more clues:

• Well, it is in California. We fly into San Francisco on Sunday, May 23!
• From San Francisco we will drive east four hours until we reach our destination! :) 

A picture may help!

We're going to YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK!

We can't wait to have our own pictures of the beautiful sites to share with you, but for now, I had to steal them from Google Images!

We fly out of Atlanta on Sunday, May 23 to arrive in San Francisco late that night. The next day we plan drive the rental car four hours east to our cabin located in Yosemite! We will spend a relaxing week site-seeing and enjoying each others company!! We will drive back to San Francisco on Saturday and fly home to Charlotte on Sunday!

Justin and I are both really excited to have finally decided on a destination and we absolutely can not wait to go!

Snow White and the Seven Miles North of Dillsboro...

It finally happened. Justin and I both grew up within a stone's throw of the Atlantic coast, so we never got to see much snow when we were kids. When we moved farther north - Justin to Clayton, GA and I to Spartanburg, SC - I think we were both expecting to see snow more often during the winter. But for the last few years, we really haven't had much winter weather other than a light dusting of snow or an icy road...until today!

Well, sort of. In Clayton, it snowed about 3 inches Friday night, but then proceeded to rain on the snow before I got there on Saturday :'( So Justin's yard was pretty, with all the trees draped in icicles, but the conditions were not exactly ideal for sledding and snowman-building...

...so we decided to head north in search of a winter wonderland!

The roads were a little dicey, with mounds of snow up to six feet high in the medians, but the salt trucks kept the roads pretty clear. The dozens of abandoned cars on the side of the road reminded us to remain cautious, though.

We drove just north of Dillsboro, NC (about an hour north of Clayton) before we finally found a suitable place to stop and play in the snow. Our winter wonderland turned out to be the lawn behind a Holiday Inn Express. The snow there was more than six inches deep, but it had obviously been even higher before the rain fell early this morning.

The hard, icy snow was perfect for snowballs and snow angels, but unfortunately it made it difficult to roll balls big enough for a snowman. Oh well, we didn't bring a carrot anyway! We did, however, bring our trash can lids in search of a good sledding hill. We tried a steep hill behind the Holiday Inn, but the grass was a bit too high, so we kept driving north in search of the perfect hill.

We ended up behind a Baptist Church just a few miles away, with a vertigo-inducing 70-foot hill behind it. It was a doozy to climb, but the view was beautiful when we finally dragged ourselves and our makeshift sleds to the top!

We still weren't able to build our snowman, but we had plenty of excitement anyway! I can only imagine how envious the passersby were when they saw the sight captured in this video :)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I've got drywall dust in my engagement ring....

Can every weekend be a long weekend, please?

I absolutely love long weekends--especially when they are spent taking out authentic 1970's-era fake wood paneling! Whoohoo! For those of you who had the luxury of visiting Justin's humble abode before our weekend project, you most likely will be the only ones who can fully appreciate all of our hard work.

When I arrived in Clayton on Friday night the paneling had already been taken down and the walls were ready to be adorned with drywall...Well, almost... :)

Before we could jump right in and hang drywall, as I make it sound easy, Justin had to do a little rewiring. He had to move a light switch here, add an outlet there. This allowed me to test my ability to interact with him during his fits of frustration. After moving several three-way switches, Justin realized he did not remember which how each had been wired before he unhooked them. He also found a mysterious cord that apparently did not lead to either a switch or an outlet. After trying to reconnect all of the wires and then flipping the switch and still being in the dark, I knew I was about to be tested. I also knew Justin well enough to not try and calm him down with words. I just told him to take a break, clear his mind, and I'd buy him Chinese food! :) Worked like a charm---on our drive to the resturant he figured out the solution! (This means I can give myself credit for him figuring out the problem, right?!)

All day Saturday was spent hanging drywall and mudding the seams. That is some tough work to say the least!  Justin bought both 8' and 12' sheets of drywall in order to minimize the number of seams we would have to mud. I had the easy job; I mudded the screw holes while Justin mudded the seams. Although it took me a little while to catch on to the proper way to mud the screw holes, pretty soon I was on a roll.

After the mud dried I was hand-sanded all of the screw holes while he used an electric sander to sand the seams. As a result of sanding, we spent a couple hours vaccuming, dusting, and washing several loads of clothes. But oh, how it was all worth it!

I am a little hesitant to put a picture up of the living room simply because the picture hardly does it justice. Justin and I agree that the wall color turned out better than we could have ever imagined! Although the living room still needs some work, like finishing up the window, making and putting up the crown molding and baseboards, taking down the wall between the living room and the kitchen (which will be done this coming weekend!), and getting new furniture (I will need to have patience on that last item of business). When Justin gets motivated there is no stopping him! (And I like it! :)

I find it really exciting to be able to help Justin fix up his house---mainly because in 4 months it will be OUR house!

After we finished Justin asked me what I thought his next project should be. I asked if making the hardwood floors would be to big of a project and he said 'No!' :):)  Not to get my hopes up or anything but maybe I'll be able to show you a kitchen with new floors in it before too long....

I will most definitely keep you posted!